In spite of these
tough times, some hotels are doing better than others and a few hotels are
actually doing quite well. This anomaly sparked my curiosity; was this
solely a result of local market variations or could it be a result of better
management aptitude in some hotels?

My conclusion is that
it is more than likely a combination of both factors. As hoteliers, we have
little control over market conditions, but total control over how we conduct
business and how we react to market variations. It's a matter of how well
hotel managers deal with fluctuations in the marketplace and how well they
lead their teams during tough times.

I have always
believed that open-minded and informed managers are those who are constantly
seeking opportunities to improve
their bottom-line. Nothing happens in a vacuum; sharing ideas and opinions
through reading and exchanging thoughts stimulates learning. Curious hotel
owners and managers are always thirsty to learn new techniques and apply
them.

There are many good
eZines which are free and chock-full of great ideas and opinions. These
daily and weekly publications enable owners and managers to sift through the
experiences of others and learn from them. …never say that you don't have
time to read and learn.

Drop That Doom and Gloom Mentality

"Misery loves
company", but some managers go a little too far. My observation has been
that successful hotel managers have the ability to maintain a positive aura
when dealing with peers and subordinates. Don't get me wrong, the current
market, and future near-term forecast, make this very difficult, but a doom
and gloom mentality has never solved anything. Peers and subordinates will
always mirror the mind-set of their leaders.

Surely, the economic
woes of the country have made it difficult to maintain positive energy, but
successful leaders find a way to generate a positive work atmosphere. I
will, no doubt, date myself when I recall Norman Vincent Peale's "The power
of positive thinking".
A positive mind anticipates happiness, joy, health and a successful outcome
of every situation and action.. Be
careful not to share negative thoughts and comments with peers and
subordinates.

How Many Balls Are You Juggling?

For the past decade
or so, cost-cutting and business efficiency measures have forced most hotel
operations to multi-task job duties and responsibilities for management. By
adding new job duties and responsibilities to someone who already has a
full-time job responsibility, we have made it more and more difficult for
managers to achieve acceptable results in all areas.

I see this every day
in the area of Internet marketing. Few hotels can afford to employ someone
to be solely responsible for the Internet and electronic marketing. These
areas are generally assigned to someone who already has another full-time
job responsibility. In some hotels, this responsibility is given to someone
with little or no experience in Internet marketing at all.

Although there are
some people who perform multi-tasking very well, many others have a tough
time doing all their assigned tasks equally well. In many cases, this has
created a whole new tendency to accept mediocre results in some areas.

In The Hotel Business, Time is Not Our Friend

Along with the
combining of job responsibilities came the compression of time which can be
devoted to each assigned task.
Internet and other electronic marketing strategies are a relatively new
marketing opportunity for hotels. It's ironic that Internet marketing
matured during the era of multi-tasking popularity; this is a double whammy
on our allotment of time.

Time is always a
finite commodity; we cannot create more. The only thing we can do is to use
time in the best way possible. During this age of multi-tasking, performing
one task has to detract from the time devoted to doing something else;
leading to prioritization.

Prioritizing tasks is
an absolute must, today, this can best be done by management leaders, who
have an overall view of all the property goals. Left to their own devices,
most middle management people will choose those tasks in which they are most
familiar; not necessarily those which would provide the greater benefit to
the hotel. They will learn by seeing what is most important to management
leadership and best for the overall hotel operation.

At the risk of
sounding self-serving, limited out-sourcing of specific Internet and
electronic marketing responsibilities could be a viable solution for many
hotel operations. Hoteliers can establish time and expense limitations as
well as set specific goals and desired results. Internet analytics also
allows for specific measurement of every task; not possible with most other
marketing actions.

Your webmaster should
be a part of your electronic marketing team. Include your webmaster when
meeting with your team to discuss Internet marketing strategies. You can
develop a solid two-way dialogue to
optimize business. Go-To-Meeting is an excellent online tool to handle this;
it also eliminates transportation expense.

Time is of the
essence. Some hoteliers are attempting to wait-out the recession by simply
managing expenses until business improves; smart hoteliers are aggressively
marketingtheir hotels to gain
market share and be in a superior position when the economy recovers. When
times are tough, the smart get going.